Murder in Jade
by Maron1
Summary: My first mystery story! One man is found dead. And his murderer is desperate...desperate to kill all witnesses, all who knew his victim, and all those who dare to reveal his identity. And. a girl named Haruka is given the job of finding him. Please REVIEW
1. Message in the Wind

Murder in Jade  
  
" " Speaking  
  
' ' Thoughts  
  
Notes: This is my first mystery story. I tried to make it really puzzling...but it's hard! Man...anyway, I made up these characters.  
  
**********  
  
Chapter 1: Message in the Wind  
  
A gun shot sounded out through the dark forest. The trees whispered in the wind, muffling the sound of the collapsing object.  
  
"My death...will not go...unsolved..." A voice whispered through gasps. "The murderer...will be known."  
  
A paper rustled in the wind and the sound of a pen scratching on the piece of paper was heard.  
  
Then, everything fell silent and the gasps of the dying person faded away. The pen dropped onto the paper, which left only one message.  
  
**********  
  
"Now, for the seven o'clock news..." The tv news reporter spoke.  
  
Suddenly, the phone rang through the empty house, causing it to echo.  
  
"Hello?" A young girl spoke as she placed the phone next to her ear.  
  
"Eimi Takachi?" A man's voice rang through the phone.  
  
Eimi's eyes drifted to the telephone. "That's me. Who's this?"  
  
"Ichirou Heiji, part of the police and detective force of Beika." Ichirou spoke into the speaker of the telephone.  
  
"Is something wrong?" From Eimi's throat, a whimper escaped. "Did something happen to my husband, Tatsuki? He isn't home yet and he's usually home by five o'clock." Her hand started shaking in nervousness, causing the phone to shake as well. "I don't really get a call from the police and detective force often, either."  
  
"I don't know how to say this...but, he's dead." Ichirou sighed into the telephone. "I'm sorry."  
  
"D-dead?" Her voice shook as she spoke the word. "Are y-you sure? It can't be."   
  
"There's no doubt about it. He died from..." Ichirou grabbed some papers off his desk.  
  
There was a sound of papers rustling in the receiver.  
  
"He died from a gun shot wound in the chest." Ichirou finished. "If you doubt me, then turn to channel...five on your television. The news reporter just started reporting his death right now."  
  
"..." Eimi's eyes were blank and her face had no expression. "Gun wound...?"  
  
She picked up the television remote and flipped to channel five.  
  
"...Just a few hours ago, the police discovered a man, name Tatsuki, dead inside this dense forest." The news reporter was standing in front of a forest filled with trees, both alive and dead. Tree bark lay scattered all over the ground. "He had been shot in the chest with a gun bullet. When a couple found him, he was barely breathing. By the time the ambulance arrived, he was dead, leaving only a piece of paper, apparently his dying message. The police will not reveal what this message is, though."  
  
Eimi's worst fear had been confirmed.  
  
"Mrs. Takachi? Are you alright?" Ichirou asked, concerned.  
  
His voice only echoed through the voice, as Eimi dropped her phone onto the ground and fainted.  
  
"Mrs. Takachi?! Are you okay?!" Ichirou cried out into the phone, "Mrs. Takachi?!"  
  
Ichirou's repeated phrase left no impact on Eimi, as she lay motionless on the floor.  
  
"Mrs. Takachi, hang on! I'll send an ambulance to come and get you right away. Hang on!" Inchirou hung up the phone and immediately dialed the number to get an ambulance to Eimi's home to retrieve her.  
  
**********  
  
Author's Note: Sooo!!! How was it? Suspenseful? I hope it was! Next chapter should be up soon! Please review and tell me how it is! 


	2. Backwards Message

Murder in Jade  
  
" " Speaking  
  
' ' Thoughts  
  
**********  
  
Chapter 2: Backwards Message  
  
"Mrs. Takachi? Are you awake?" A voice said.  
  
"Un..." Eimi's eyes slowly opened and a rough picture slowly formed in front of her.  
  
A nurse was bending over her with a very concerned face.  
  
"Thank goodness!" The nurse cried out. "How are you feeling?"  
  
Eimi blinked twice to clear her vision. "Where am I?"  
  
"In the hospital. We weren't sure when you were going to wake up. We did some tests already and you're fine, even though you are in a state of shock." The nurse opened the door to call in the doctor. "She's awak!" She cried out.  
  
A breeze rushed into the room, cooling Eimi's skin and a doctor walked in.  
  
"How are you feeling right now, despite what happened to your husband?" The doctor asked.  
  
"I'm fine, I suppose." Eimi started to sit up. "Thank you for taking care of me, but I must be going right now." She sat on the edge of the bed, ready to get up.  
  
"The state you're in right now...you possibly can't leave right now!" The doctor cried out.  
  
"I must go..." Eimi rushed out the door, walking as if she had a broken leg. "Mu husband..."  
  
"Get her back here. Quickly, before something happens to her!" The doctor yelled.  
  
**********  
  
"...Police have finally released to the media what Tatsuki Takachi wrote as his dying message." The news reporter held the microphone close to her mouth.  
  
Eimi was brought back to her room in the hospital by the nurse.  
  
"Please turn up the volume." Eimi asked, sitting up in the bed.  
  
"His last message had these letters, in this order, a backwards capital e, a backwards capital d, a backwards capital a, and a backwards capital j." THe news reporter finished. "A strange message indeed, puzzling the police and detective force."  
  
"Backwards? How come every letter's written backwards?" Eimi wondered. "E, D, A, J...? Edaj? No...what does that stand for?"  
  
"Mrs. Eimi Takachi?" A young girl stood int he doorway. She had dark brown hair and wore a white T-shirt with blue jeans.  
  
"Yes. That's me." Eimi replied, turning slightly to face the girl.  
  
"I'm Haruka, part of the detective force." Haruka stuck out her hand, indicating that she wanted to shake hands with Eimi.  
  
"How old are you?" Eimi questioned. "You don't seem old enough to be capable of solving mysteries."  
  
"17." Haruka winked. "And one of the best on the force, too."  
  
"Seventeen?!" Eimi cried out. "Are you going to be the one who's going to find out who murdered my husband?"  
  
"Yup." Haruka exclaimed. "You know about the message, right?"  
  
"What does it mean?" Eimi asked desperately.  
  
"Jade." Haruka pulled out a piece of paper and a mirror. "If you write down the letters, a backwards e, backwards d, backwards a, and a backwards j, all in capital letters,a nd then reflect it in the mirror, you get Jade." She scribbled down the letters and reflected it in the mirrow, which indeed produced the word jade.  
  
"Jade...what does Jade stand for? And how did you figure out that the message had to reflected in the mirror?" Eimi tested out the reflection of the note herself.  
  
"I looked up some information about Takura when the police reported the murder and found out that he was good at creating puzzles. Puzzles that confused people." Haruka grinned. "Am I right?"  
  
"Th-that's right." Eimi's eyes were wide open, fascinated by how much Haruka knew.  
  
"And that's when I realized that maybe he didn't want his murderer to figure out what his dying message was...so he wrote it in a type of puzzle." Haruka looked out the hospital window.  
  
"I see..." Eimi closed her eyes in sadness. "I miss him...a lot..."  
  
**********  
  
Author's Note: Another short chapter...but the message is finally revealed, along with what it means!!! How was this chapter? It may be a while till the next one comes out...I need to think about what's gonna happen next and how it's gonna happen! 


End file.
